Hope Brandt punches a bag during a Boxing and Bags class at the Woodson YMCA in downtown Wausau. / T'xer Zhon Kha/12 for '12

Firefighter Tadd Wegener, 48, prepares a set of extrication gear to a fire truck Wednesday, October 24, 2012, at Merrill Fire Department.

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The weight is coming off and staying off for people who have made major lifestyle changes this year. Your battle to lose weight this year doesn’t have to end with the approach of the holidays. There are plenty of strategies to enjoy the pleasures of the holidays, just enough, while maintaining good health.

People like Hope Brandt, 37, will use moderation to get through the coming weeks. Brandt said she will enjoy some holiday sweets, but she also will increase her workout time to make up for the extra calories she might enjoy.

The Wausau woman was able to avoid surgery on her knee after losing 70 pounds through a combination of exercise and healthier meal planning.

Brandt’s doctor thought Brandt was headed for partial knee replacement related to a blood clot about two years ago, but Brandt was able to avoid the surgery because of her lifestyle change. These days, Brandt hardly misses a session of Boxing and Bags at the Woodson YMCA in downtown Wausau.

“You put in what you get out of it,” said Brandt, who is an occupational therapy assistant. All the jabs, uppercuts, crosses and hooks typically burn off about 500 calories per class. She also runs and tries to sign up for 5K races, and she wants to increase her workouts enough to offset holiday treats with the family.

Marshfield Clinic nutritionist Tere Murphy said approaching holiday meals — Thanksgiving, included — with balance in mind is really no different from approaching everyday meals.

“Make half your plate healthy; avoid cream sauces; make it white meat, and just a quarter of the plate for stuffing,” Murphy said.

Kimberly Graveen’s approach to holidays and special occasions includes eating smart. The Wausau woman is 44 pounds lighter now than in April, after she completed her company’s Move It and Lose It challenge.

“Some people have this mindset that they can’t eat anything during the holidays because they’re on a diet,” said Graveen, a UMR customer representative. “Don’t worry if you want some of Nana’s apple pie; go ahead and have some. Just have half of a piece or share a slice with your spouse.”

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As Lori Helmuth, 41, of Wisconsin Rapids approaches the holidays, she said she will not deprive herself of all the plentiful goodies but will enjoy them in moderation.

“I usually volunteer to bring a fruit salad, and I will bring something healthy to work,” Helmuth said.

She was part of a couple dozen Solarus employees who competed in a wellness challenge earlier this year. Helmuth did it to challenge herself and push a bit harder to be more fit. Participants got points in the challenge for things such as drinking enough water, parking farther away from a building than they typically would, and even for flossing.

Helmuth said she began attending Zumba classes and her family of four joined the Wisconsin Rapids YMCA, where they regularly exercise.

“If I wasn’t out there doing it, my kids and husband wouldn’t,” she said.

Tadd Wegener, 48, was part of a team of Merrill Fire Department firefighters who, along with 284 other participants, lost weight through the Ministry Community Weight Race program. He kept losing weight and is down 25 pounds since the wellness challenge began and ended last spring.

He plans to combat holiday overeating by keeping up his workout routine and choosing calories wisely.

He takes his yellow Labrador on regular walks near his home in Tomahawk and exercises in the fire station’s workout room. His diet includes a lot of vegetables and fruits, and fewer high calorie chips.

He won’t be working the holidays for the first time in “many, many years” but he has the mindset that he will not overeat.